Posted on 11/24/2009 7:36:58 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
ON THE ROAD
For the Hotel Industry, Recovery is a Long Way Off
By JOE SHARKEY
IN these uncertain economic times, I am wary when I hear someone proclaiming, “We have finally bottomed out.” After all, who knows how long we may stay on the bottom?
So that’s why I urge caution in evaluating small recent indicators that might mean better times ahead for the hotel industry.
On Monday, for example, the hotel investment services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels released a survey showing that investors saw some signs of improvement for hotels, but not for at least a year.
For business travelers that means hotels will remain a buyers’ market, especially as they continue to discount rates.
/snip
Bjorn Hanson, a clinical associate professor at the Tisch Center, said that average domestic hotel occupancy this year would be about 55 percent.
Average national occupancy has dipped below 60 percent only twice before since the 1920s, he said, during the Great Depression, and in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ping!
Why? What is that makes them think they can tell such big lies and get away with it?
My theory: A big dip is coming early next year. They know it. They will use it to their advantage. While dramatic action (the Stimulus) was tried before, the "sudden" and "unexpected" trouble of 2010 will require action on a whole other level.
By portraying our current situation as "not-so-bad", Obama will be able to take the truth next year, declare a sudden State of Emergency, and seize unprecedented economic power.
He'll need a domestic army to provide muscle. Fortunately, 34% of young blacks have time on their hands.
LOL, it takes the NY Times to notice something so obvious about our economy??? The administration stated that we had rebounded, that things were rosy — but tell that to people in the lower eschelons of blue collar service jobs — they know that’s incorrect.
Yes, to have hotel occupancy go down this low, either you have to have a great depression or some Jihadi nutjobs crash two Jumbo jets into a 100+ story skyscraper.
"Average national occupancy has dipped below 60 percent only twice before since the 1920s, he said, during the Great Depression, and in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks."
"This year, Mr. Hanson said, revenue per available room, the crucial measure of hotel performance, will be off 16 to 17 percent for all hotels — a far steeper drop than any analysts were predicting earlier this year.
"For luxury hotels, the numbers are far worse.
"Mostly because of the economy, but partly because of public resentment of conspicuous corporate spending, five-star hotels took the biggest hit as company travel managers cracked down on spending and luxury meetings and conference planners either canceled events or went more downscale.
"For luxury hotels, per-room revenue will probably show a drop of 25 percent this year, he said.
"No one expects that to change drastically anytime soon, either. Until a year ago, 'there was a sense at some executive levels that there was no limit to opulence' on the road, Ms. Rach said.
"The limits have arrived."
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